Written by

Jeff Baker

Free Press columnist

I hate to be a scrooge, but I’ve had my fill of sticky-sweet and disastrously over-spiced holiday brews. You know the type: an under-attenuated malty brown ale jam packed with nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, coriander, grains of paradise and orange peel. Don’t get me wrong, I love some of those spices. But it seems brewers have decided that we need to have all of them at the same time. Or maybe more accurately, the marketing departments have decided this for us.

I’m not swearing off spices all together. I think when they’re used judiciously to bolster certain flavors or coax a beer toward a higher level of complexity, spices are indispensable.

We can look to Belgium for the best examples of spicing in beer. Some of the best beers from Belgium contain spices. And sugar, too. But maybe not in the way that you might think. Let’s start with the spicing routine.

Belgian brewers aim to capture your palate with impeccably complex yet coyly subtle brews. Sip after sip the best Belgian brews evolve with different flavor notes taking the spotlight or the backseat. It’s all about balance for these brewers. And one of the best ways to promote balance is the judicious use of “spices.” I put that in quotations because “spices” is a fairly loose term encompassing what we normally think of as spices as well as other flavoring agents such as herbs, vanilla and citrus. Typical spices used in Belgian ales include coriander, cumin, curaçao orange peel, anise, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom.

These spices are added in tiny amounts to augment certain flavors of the grain or yeast they’ve chosen. In most cases, you wouldn’t even know that spices were used — unless of course the Alcohol & Tobacco Trade Tax Bureau has made the brewer label the beer as “ale brewed with spices.”

On the other side of the coin we have sugar. Sugar is food for yeast in the brewing process, most of which is converted from the starches in barley and other grains. Belgian brewers, as well as others around the world, have also used specialty candi sugars. Candi sugar is an invert sugar, which means that the sucrose molecules have been split into glucose and fructose molecules. It often starts out as cane sugar or beet sugar and is heated in the presence of citric acid until the desired color is reached. Candi sugar is then allowed to cool into something resembling rock candy. The candi sugar allows brewers to producer higher alcohol beers without adding any body or a cloying mouthfeel since candi sugar ferments out completely. Syrup forms are also common and can be made from corn syrup. The color of the sugar or syrup lends color to the final beer as well, but not usually any residual sweetness.

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Here’s some suggestions if you’re in the market for a winter warmer this season. A lot of these are fairly rare so you might have to hunt around. A tiny number of kegs also make it to Vermont, so you may even see one or two on draft soon.

De Ranke Père Noël — as a small producer of very fine ales, I highly recommend anything that De Ranke makes. The Père Noël is a 7 percent Belgian amber ale brewed with just a kiss of licorice. This is earthy, herbal licorice, not the sticky black candy you pick around in the candy bowl at your aunt’s house. Lightly bitter and very balanced with a dry (not sweet) spicy finish. A must try.

Delirium Noël — Famous for the cartoon pink elephants on its labels and the faux ceramic bottles, Delirium makes some classic strong ales. Its Noël is a strong amber ale (10 percent alcohol by volume) brewed with seven herbs but drinks like a Belgian brown ale. Subtly spicy, you get some herbal aromatics and flavors on the mid-palate. The beer finishes fairly dry and leaves you with a nice warm feeling. Perfect for fireside sipping on cold nights.

Scaldis Noël — If you don’t want any spices in your winter warmer, check this one out. It’s essentially a Belgian Barleywine Ale and is brewed using the aforementioned candi sugar. Clocking in at 12 percent alcohol it’s rich and malty and definitely a sipper. This one ages quite nicely if you have a beer cellar.

Achouffe N’ice Chouffe — gesundheit, right? The Belgian amber ale is bolstered with curaçao bitter orange peel and thyme. The herbaceous quality of the thyme lends a pleasant earthiness and makes this a wonderful brew for holiday meals.